Ice Cold Cocoa
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: More Mondler family fluff...it's coming in waves right now...


_Finally they're tuckered out,_

_And getting sleepy, so_

_They slowly gather up their things,_

_And one by one they go._

_So if your snowman's grin is crooked,_

_Or he's lost a little height,_

_You'll know he's just been doing_

_What snowmen do at night!_

"Great job, sweetie!" Chandler said, beaming at 6-year-old Erica.

Monica smiled, looking at Erica, then Jack, one on each side of her in her king-sized bed. She'd helped the first graders with the hard words, but they'd read a lot of the book themselves.

"You are such a good reader!" she tussled Jack's hair. "You both are. Daddy and I are very proud of you!"

"We sure are," Chandler said, stepping away from his observation spot against the door frame to bend down and kiss Erica's forehead, then Jack's, stealthy taking the book from Monica's grasp.

"The clues!" Jack shouted, bouncing up in his fleece penguin PJs. "Daddy, we have to find the clues."

"Yeah," Erica agreed, bouncing up next to her brother. "That's the best part and I saw the bunny on TWO pages."

She put two fingers up to emphasize her point.

Monica glanced at Chandler. They knew this was coming.

"It's late, guys," she said.

"It's time for bed…" Chandler started.

A chorus of "please" and "ahhhs" ensued.

Monica caught Chandler's eye and grinned.

Chandler stepped back with the book in hand and gave his kids a stern face.

They both sat down again, looking completely defeated.

He kept the face on for about five seconds.

"How much do you want to find the clues?" he said, tapping the book between his fingers, eyebrows wiggling, one knee on the bed.

"Daddy…" Erica grinned, knowing what he was going to do.

She couldn't believe he was going to do it with Mommy in the room, though.

Jack shot a glance at Monica.

"How much?" Chandler said, lifting the book a little higher in the air.

Both kids jumped up to their knees, smiling from ear to ear.

Chandler inched it ever higher until both kids were suddenly jumping on the bed, trying to get the book.

"Chandler!" Monica admonished, trying to keep from smiling, or getting jumped on.

A flurry of giggles and grins ensued as they tried to grab the book from their father, until Monica stood on the bed with her kids and grabbed the book out of Chandler's hands.

She giggled and fell back onto the mattress, clutching the book to her chest, two 6-year-olds climbing on her.

Chandler stepped back and chuckled. He loved getting them all riled up, especially when his wife played along.

"OK," she said, breathlessly. "OK, we'll find the clues."

"Yay!" Erica beamed, settling down next to her Mom again.

"But no more monkeys jumping on the bed," she said, shooting an exasperated glance at her husband. He put up his hands in mock-innocence.

"You gonna sit with us, Daddy?" Jack asked, snuggling into Monica's other side.

"Nah, you go ahead," he said, shaking his head. "I'm going to clean up the cups from the hot chocolate."

He bent down again and kissed Erica, Monica and Jack on the forehead and turned to leave the room.

Chandler turned back, taking one last glance at the image before him. The three people who were his whole world, all cuddled up in their fleece PJs together on his bed.

Monica smiled up at him, her eyes dancing.

His heart melted and a little grin came over his face as he made his way down the stairs.

###

"Night, Jacky," she said, as she turned off his light. "Love you."

"Love you," he said, then let out a big yawn.

Monica walked over to Erica's room and completed the same ritual she did with Jack.

A cuddle and a kiss, then lights-out.

She and Chandler had spent the better part of two years "laying" down with their four then five year olds for "just a couple of minutes" before they went to sleep.

It had gotten out of control - before too long a couple minutes had become five, then 10, then turned in to either Chandler or Monica falling asleep in one of the beds.

Finally, when the twins turned six, a new bedtime routine was established - and after a few battles over a couple weeks, it finally stuck.

A book, a cuddle, a kiss and off to bed.

"Night, Sweetie Girl," she said, giving Erica a squeeze before kissing her cheek.

"Night, Mommy," she said, then asked. "Mommy?"

"Hummm?'

"Do you think Perry will have a good time tonight?"

"Perry? Our snowman?" she asked, grinning. "I bet he will."

Monica pulled the covers over her daughter and tucked them around her shoulders.

"Sleep tight, baby," she said, kissing her forehead. "Love you."

"Night, Momma," Erica said, turning on her side and closing her eyes.

Monica turned off her light and walked out into the hall.

It was too quiet.

She crept downstairs and peaked into the kitchen.

All clean.

A glance at the living room and study proved futile.

"Chandler?" she whispered.

She glanced out the little window in the front door and smiled.

Monica pulled her snow boots over her fuzzy socks and threw on her winter coat, which was still drying by the gas fireplace.

She opened the front door.

###

"Rough night, Perry?" Chandler muttered to himself, chuckling at his own joke, as he put a little snow in the leftover cocoa-stained Styrofoam cup at Perry's boots to keep it in place.

He cocked the snowman's hat to one side and made his carrot nose a little more crooked.

"Whatcha doin'?" she said, with a grin.

"What snowmen do at night," he winked back at her.

"You know you are the world's greatest Dad, right?"

She reached out and grabbed the back of his coat, resting her chin on his shoulder as he admired his handiwork.

"Nah," he said, flicking a coal button off Perry's chest. "They are the world's greatest kids."

"Because of you," she said, turning him toward her.

"Because of you," he said. "You're an amazing Mom, Mon."

She smiled and kissed him softly.

"They sure had fun tonight, huh?" she said, thinking back on their evening of snowman building and hot chocolate by the fire.

"_We_ had fun," he said, pushing her hair away from her face. "It's such a strange thing. I was always so…worried about being a father. The responsibility and the work…"

He swallowed hard as tears stung the back of his eyes.

"I never woulda guessed…" he said, lump firmly in his throat, "how much damn fun it would be. They're just so…fun."

She smiled and hugged him tight.

"You make it fun," she said. "But you're good at all of it, Chandler - the fun parts and the hard parts."

He grinned and pulled her into the crook of his arm. They looked at Perry.

"I think my work here is done."

"Humm," she said, surveying the snowman. "Not quite."

She scooped up some snow and made a ball in her hand.

He remembered from the book that snowmen at night always have the best snowball fights - though a little too late to save himself.

She hit him square in the chest.

"Oh, it's on, woman!"

He grabbed a handful of snow and chased her around Perry, nailing her in the backside as she shrieked and ducked behind a tree to reload.

###

"Jacky?" Erica said as she tiptoed into her brother's room.

"Yeah?"

"What's that sound?"

"What sound?"

"It's outside my window…"

Jack climbed out of bed and they quietly made their way back to Erica's room and peaked out the window.

In the dark all they could see were snowballs flying by Perry's head.

"It's the world's best snowball fight!" they said at the same time, smiles on their faces as they watched the magic that snowmen do at night.

_**NOTE: I absolutely don't own "Friends" or anything having to do with Caralyn & Mark Buehner's incredible book "What Snowmen Do At Night," but my son is reading it again as the weather has turned cooler and I LOVE this book so much. And, darn it, this image wouldn't leave me. I am sorry if it was a little hard to follow - might be if you haven't read the book, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway...(and yes, I tweaked it a little after I posted it - it was awfully late when I wrote it - ha!)**_


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